All the 2.68 lakh irregular Bangladeshi workers registered under Malaysia's amnesty programme will be regularised from October 10 and given jobs, officials at the Bangladesh High Commission in Kuala Lumpur said yesterday.

Bangladesh Power Development Board has proposed the energy watchdog to increase electricity tariffs for individual sectors at the retail level with consumers paying higher prices for higher consumption.

The Election Commission has cancelled 27 applications for election to councillor post of Narayanganj City Corporation after it identified them as contractors of the city corporation or loan defaulters.

Only three months after the Chaktai canal was excavated spending Tk 12 crore, Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) has taken a fresh initiative to remove the accumulated sludge at Chawkbazar point of the canal in the port city.

The observance of Bijoy Dashami, happening as it does in a spirit of joy, is in a very large sense a reassertion of faith by those who hold fast to the tenets of the Hindu religion. And religion is but another term for the many ways in which men and women identify with the Creator, indeed with the divinities they hold faith by. This morning, and all day today, Bangladesh's Hindu community as also Hindus elsewhere around the world will call forth within themselves the verve and the reflective spirit so necessary in a renewal of belief in the wonders of life.

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) yesterday turned up at the Bangladesh Football Federation House for their players' registration for the upcoming Bangladesh League, but due to miscommunication they had to return without registering any players.

Three-time European champions Germany are keen to notch their ninth win in as many Euro 2012 qualifiers when they take on Turkey on Friday as they seek to become the first German team to go through a qualifying campaign without dropping a point.

Somerset made a remarkable fightback with a superb bowling show after Craig Kieswetter shone with the bat as they defeated Warriors by 12 runs to qualify for the semifinals in the Champions League Twenty20 here on Wednesday.

Little opener David Warner's 69-ball 135 not out floored defending champions Chennai Super Kings while powering the New South Wales into the semifinals of the Champions League T20 tournament here on Tuesday.

South Korea's Samsung Electronics said Wednesday it would seek a ban in France and Italy on sales of Apple's newly released iPhone, in the latest round of its legal battle with the US technology giant. A spokesman for Samsung warned that it was "virtually going into an all-out war" with Apple.

The World Bank approved $172 million on Tuesday to support the ongoing rural electrification and renewable energy development (RERED) project to install an additional 630,000 solar home systems and other renewable energy mini-grid schemes in the country.

A stitch in time saves nine. Some work must be done on time. Seasoned farmer Mainul Islam knows it well. It is important to sow seeds, ensure irritation, fertiliser, pesticide and weeding just in right time, according to him.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan yesterday ordered the Chittagong Port Authority to take steps to reinstate all dock workers of the port who were given so-called golden handshake during the tenure of caretaker government.

Sales of reconditioned vehicles have fallen in the port city in recent years due to a price hike. The trend is also likely to continue as the government, in this year's financial budget, has only allowed the import of vehicles up to three years old and the prices of cars in the Japanese market have also gone up, says Sujauddin Mamun, proprietor of Maxim Car Centre.

The reconditioned car business is dull at present, compared to performance last year, said Mannan Chowdhury Khasru, president of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA).

Metropolitan

The judge presiding over the trial of the BDR carnage case said yesterday the court never expects anyone to be hanged. He said this in response to a defence lawyer's remark directed at the prosecution.

Amid a standoff between the government and the main opposition over the caretaker government (CG) system, former adviser Akbar Ali Khan yesterday said the system is necessary to prevent rigging in the polls.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reaffirmed her government's strong commitment to ensure equal rights of people of all religions in performing their respective religious rituals and enjoying their democratic rights.

India and the Soviet Union stood by the freedom-loving people of Bangladesh in 1971 as the Pakistan army perpetrated genocide in the country. Their stand was in clear contrast to the position adopted by many democratic countries, which looked the other way.

The Election Commission is moving ahead with its plan to introduce the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in the upcoming elections, including the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) polls, despite the opposition BNP's objection.

Awami League MP Abdul Matin Khasru at an international conference reiterated Bangladesh's full-support for establishment of an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday summoned the Dhaka Central Jail superintendent to explain the allegation that the prison authorities have violated the tribunal's earlier order on ensuring treatment to Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Matiur Rahman Nizami.

Unicef has received a grant of US$2 million from Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) to implement a health project that aims to scale up home-based essential maternal and newborn care interventions in Tangail.

Tourism Educators' Association of Bangladesh (TEAB) was formed yesterday in a bid to enrich tourism learning through quality education, research and training among the students of the higher educational institutions.

Prof Dr Nurul Alam Khan, former head of the Department of Ophthalmology at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), breathed his last at his Dhaka residence on October 1 at the age of 86, says a press release.

The creative themes of the pandals or the grandeur of the idols have drawn the attention of a large number of devotees at puja mandops in many of 13 upazilas of Dinajpur district during the ongoing celebration of Durga Puja, the biggest religious festival of Bangalee Hindus.

Locals of the city's Ambarkhana area yesterday formed a human chain in front of Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar to press for their demand for protecting Kalapathor Math, the lone playground in the area, from being occupied.

Police arrested a man along with a foreign-made pistol and a bullet from a bus in Goalunda Feed Mill area on Daulatdia-Khulna highway in Rajbari yesterday morning. The arrestee was Ziaul Islam, 45, son of Abul Bashar of Kathaltoli village in Jessore Sadar upazila. Acting on a tip-off, a team of Goalunda police led by SI Shaminul Haque searched the bus of Sohag Paribahan in the area and arrested Ziaul with the pistol loaded with one bullet at about 09:00am. Police said, Ziaul confessed that he was going to Savar in Dhaka with the arms for one Zakir from Jessore.

gang looted valuables worth about Tk 4.5 lakh from the house of expatriate Harun ur-Rashid at Shaistanagar in Habiganj town yesterday. Harun was in Korea and had been staying in the house for months. Family sources said, about 20 robbers entered the house by breaking open its gate and a door at about 3am . They first beat up two tenants of the house and took away their mobile phones and money. They later swooped on Harun and beat him mercilessly before tying him up with ropes. The gang looted 8 tolas of gold, 4 mobile phone sets, Tk 30,000 and other valuables from the house.

A court here on Tuesday sentenced a man to life term imprisonment for possessing contraband phensidyl syrup. The convict was identified as Babul, son of late Mofizuddin of Shyampur village in Damurhuda upazila. According to the prosecution, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) arrested Babul and Alim along with eight liters of phensidyl from Darshana border area on May 31, 2003. A case was filed against them under Narcotics Control Act on the same day. Later, after investigation police submitted charge sheet on June 15, the same year. After examining the records and witnesses, Judge of Additional Sessions Judge Court-2 Abdur Rahman Sardar handed down the verdict and acquitting Alim.

Police seized at least one lakh packets of adulterated powdered juice from a fake factory in Bera municipality area yesterday morning. They arrested two manufacturers of the juice and a mobile court fined them Tk 1 lakh and 30 thousand. Officer in-charge of Bera police station Md. Abdul Hai said police raided the factories of Md. Anwar Hossain and Md. Khalid Hossain at local poura market and recovered over one lakh packets of fake juice. The packets were later destroyed it Bera poura market area. The traders were manufacturing the juice by using toxic chemicals and selling those among the children in name of 'Number One Shakib Khan'.

Afghanistan's intelligence agency said yesterday it had thwarted a plot to assassinate President Hamid Karzai after arresting a bodyguard and five people with links to the Haqqani network and al-Qaeda.

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai reached out to "twin brother" Pakistan yesterday in an effort to reassure an increasingly isolated neighbor that a deal to boost economic and security cooperation with rival India will not harm ties.

After being voted out of power in their traditional strongholds West Bengal and Kerala states, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has embarked on ideological reorientation possibly focussing on Latin America where Centre-Left parties have of late been on ascendancy.

The United Nations' cultural agency has begun to review a draft resolution from the Palestinian delegation for full membership of the body, a UNESCO source said yesterday, the latest move by the Palestinians to seek statehood recognition.

Hollywood star Angelina Jolie on Tuesday pleaded with the international community to step up aid to the Horn of Africa, saying that its response would determine "whether huge numbers of people live or die."

Prosecutors have reopened hundreds of dormant investigations of former Nazi death camp guards and others who might now be charged under a new precedent set by the conviction of retired US autoworker John Demjanjuk, The Associated Press has learned.

Arts & Entertainment

Noted Bangladeshi theatre personality Ramendu Majumdar has been re-elected the worldwide president of International Theatre Institute (ITI). The newly elected 19-member executive council voted for him at the 33rd ITI World Congress held recently in Xiamen, China. Majumdar will step down from the post in 2013 though he can run for the next term. According to him: “When I became president for the first time in 2008, I observed that in the past several presidents held the post three or more times, and that ultimately slowed down the organisation's activities. So I've decided to discontinue this trend with an aim to reinforce organisational activities. Though I have a chance to run for the next term, I won't.”

Nafis Ahmed Nadvi had master photographers like Dr. Noazish Ahmed and Naib Ahmed as his uncles. His other well-known relative is Nasim Ahmed Nadvi, an accomplished painter and architect. It is not surprising that Nafis Nadvi's solo photography exhibition, at the Dhaka Art Centre, began with a sea of viewers. The display is to end on October 8.

Although she made her first steps in the media with dance, it was modeling that jumpstarted Shokh's career. The journey has taken her through the world of TV dramas and even a movie with superstar Shakib Khan. Shokh says it's patience, not haste, that has contributed to her success story.

Single-episode TV play, “Koyekti Neel Rong Pencil” will be aired tonight on Boishakhi TV at 8:45pm. Written and directed by Anjan Aich, the play features Joya Ahsan, Intekhab Dinar, Rawnak Hasan and Tanmoy.

To mark the 150th birth anniversary of Nobel laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore, news presenter and elocutionist Dima Nefertiti launched her fourth solo album, titled “Shurjopronam”. The album was formally launched on October 3 at Bengal Shilpalaya, Dhanmondi in Dhaka, according to a press release.

OP-ED

Who is anyone to disagree with the remarks of renowned thinkers? But sometimes one has to with all the reverence at one's disposal. For example, when one eminent philosopher says "Animals are reliable, many full of love, true in their affections, predictable in their actions, grateful and loyal. Difficult standards for people to live up to," one has to take issue with it.

Following the recent visit of IMF mission, macroeconomic management in Bangladesh has come under the spotlight. The reputation that the country has enjoyed over many years in pursuing sound macroeconomic policies appears to be in jeopardy. The following table tells a poignant story of the mess in the macroeconomy.

According to Hindu mythology, demon Mahishasur was creating problems for the gods and their king. Then Indra requested the holy trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva to save them from him. They in turn sought divine help of mother Durga who, armed with weapons and riding on a lion, killed demon Mahishasur. So, Durga Puja is a celebration of the victory of good over evil.

StarTech

This is not the story we had in mind to publish today. In fact last night I was writing a piece on Apple's latest iPhone that debuted on October 4. Little did I know that the man who co-founded that company and changed the world with the touch of technology just passed away. We'll probably run that story next week.

Star Chittagong

Over 3,000 students of Chittagong University (CU) are leading an inhuman life in 75 cottages adjacent to the university as they hurdle in small rooms, lack dining space and face shortage of bathrooms and acute water crisis.